Call for Proposals: 2018 Talent Programme

Talent for Governance programme is inviting applicants for its “2018 Talent Programme” to support young people by providing opportunities for knowledge exchange and training so that they can develop their skills and realise their ambitions.

In many parts of the world, local civil servants work under difficult circumstances. The communities for which they work are characterised by widespread poverty, a lack of basic services, high unemployment rates and environmental challenges. Moreover, their organisations often lack qualified staff and financial resources needed to deal with these challenges.

With a Talent for Governance scholarship, young talents at the local level increase their practical knowledge on topics such as management of waste or water, local economic development, municipal service delivery, citizen participation and accountability, fiscal decentralisation and local taxes, climate change and resilience, integrity and anti-corruption.

The selected talents follow international training in The Hague and an internship in a Dutch municipality. They meet colleagues from abroad, learn from experiences in other countries and link what they have learned to the daily practice in their home countries. This will help them to achieve their personal goals and make a real difference for their local communities.

Program Sectors

International practice oriented training course at The Hague Academy for Local Governance

Week-long internship at a Dutch municipality

Networking activities

Back Home Action Plan

Themes

Citizen Participation & Accountability

Female Leadership

Leadership & Municipal Management

Local Economic Development

Local Service Delivery & Millennium Development Goals

Climate Change & Resilient Cities

Fiscal Decentralisation & Local Finance.

Eligibility Criteria

Young civil servants working for local government in a developing country can apply for the Talent for Governance programme. They must have a strong motivation and a concrete project or idea to improve the performance of the organisation and create better services for their community.

Application is possible if applicant: work for a local government (not an NGO or private enterprise):

work in one of the countries listed on the DAC country list;

be 37 years of age or younger when applicant apply;

have at least two years of work experience in local governance and prove their commitment work there for at least two years more;

speak and understand the English language well (all programmes are in English);

be able to write down and orally defend their motivation for the programme and its relevance to their own community;

be able to identify an issue/project as a real-life case within the theme of the programme for which applicant will write a Back Home Action Plan during the talent programme;

have written support of their employer to participate in the programme and to implement the Back Home Action Plan when applicant return home.